dissertation help

[MICHAELMCGARRY]

Hi my name is Michael Mc Garry. I’m a student at Dundalk Institute of Technology in Co. Louth, Ireland currently in my final year of Building Surveying. For my dissertation my chosen topic is the conversion of existing buildings for use as recording studios. Basically can it be accomplished successfully? I was hopeful that maybe some of you could help me by answering whatever questions you have knowledge on.
The questions are as follows;

1. Can conversion projects be of the same quality as a well built, new build project?
2. What are the main problems encountered in a conversion project?
3. How are they solved?
4. In the studio what is your preference, absorption, diffusion or deflection when dealing with acoustical problems?
5. Do you believe in the concept of studio proportions i.e. the ideal 1:1.14:1.39 ratio or is it not as important as some people make it out to be?
8. What techniques can do you use to accomplish the desired isolation levels?
9. Are they successful?
10. What construction methods best suited for recording studios?
11. Is relying on mass impractical or can it alone provide the required isolation?
12. Do you utilise the decoupling technique where the studio is effectively separated from the original building?
13. If so is it the best solution in conversion projects?
14. what soundproofing materials or companies do you recommend?
15. How do you deal with background noise?
16. What is more desirable solution to acoustics Dead or Live?
17. Do you place as much emphasis on the control rooms acoustics as the actual recording room?
18. Is it possible to have the bands record at high levels during the day and use the night and evening time for mixing quietly where studios cannot meet the isolation requirements?
19. Finally are there any issues that cannot be satisfied when converting a building for use as recording studios?

Regards,
Michael McGarry
Thanks

[Smithcok]

Originally Posted by MICHAELMCGARRY

Hi my name is Michael Mc Garry. I’m a student at Dundalk Institute of Technology in Co. Louth, Ireland currently in my final year of Building Surveying. For my dissertation my chosen topic is the conversion of existing buildings for use as recording studios. Basically can it be accomplished successfully? I was hopeful that maybe some of you could help me by answering whatever questions you have knowledge on.
The questions are as follows;

1. Can conversion projects be of the same quality as a well built, new build project?
2. What are the main problems encountered in a conversion project?
3. How are they solved?
4. In the studio what is your preference, absorption, diffusion or deflection when dealing with acoustical problems?
5. Do you believe in the concept of studio proportions i.e. the ideal 1:1.14:1.39 ratio or is it not as important as some people make it out to be?
8. What techniques can do you use to accomplish the desired isolation levels?
9. Are they successful?
10. What construction methods best suited for recording studios?
11. Is relying on mass impractical or can it alone provide the required isolation?
12. Do you utilise the decoupling technique where the studio is effectively separated from the original building?
13. If so is it the best solution in conversion projects?
14. what soundproofing materials or companies do you recommend?
15. How do you deal with background noise?
16. What is more desirable solution to acoustics Dead or Live?
17. Do you place as much emphasis on the control rooms acoustics as the actual recording room?
18. Is it possible to have the bands record at high levels during the day and use the night and evening time for mixing quietly where studios cannot meet the isolation requirements?
19. Finally are there any issues that cannot be satisfied when converting a building for use as recording studios?

Regards,
Michael McGarry
Thanks

All of these questions are extremely specific - whether pertaining to design skill, design choice, construction skill, budget, location, etc...

How is anyone supposed to answer these?

[kasmira]

I would suggest grabbing Rod Gervais' book; "Home Recording Studio Build It Like The Pros" from Amazon. At least half of these questions are answered, probably more like 90% of them in the book, and in great depth. Good luck on your dissertation, but just note, as the other poster did, it is highly unlikely that any of these questions are simple to answer. They would take any one of the pros here a good amount of time to answer. Your best bet is to grab some books and dive in so you can make your own assessments.

[MICHAELMCGARRY]

Thanks I have that book its great, also read have Newells and Alton Everests I really just looking for an expert opinion from someone else to support or contrast the litriture.

[Rod Gervais]

Sorry I can't help you.......... seeing as you already have my book any response I made would be (obviously) biased.

Good luck,

Rod

[avare]

Meant in a respectfull manner, asking:

4. In the studio what is your preference, absorption, diffusion or deflection when dealing with acoustical problems?

shows that you have not studied the texts that you have. Absorption, diffusion and reflection are all present in studios. The choice for "correcting acoustical problems" is dependent on the problem, not the tool. As analogy to construction, you do not use a compactor when you need a hammer.

Well hammered,
Andre

[andrebrito]

Just for the fun of it...

1. Can conversion projects be of the same quality as a well built, new build project?

not easy to achieve indeed. It might be done depending on the existing sctructure. Anyway at least where I live it is quite complicated since the law is very severe in terms of noise disturbance

2. What are the main problems encountered in a conversion project?

Usually rooms too small or not having the proper dimensions, lack of soundproofing and problems with structural noise

3. How are they solved?

Sometimes they cannot be solved and I just tell the client they need another space... or I just say ok you cannot have drums playing at 3 am, sorry


4. In the studio what is your preference, absorption, diffusion or deflection when dealing with acoustical problems?


Depends a lot on budget etc,, I prefer a mix of absorption and diffusion


5. Do you believe in the concept of studio proportions i.e. the ideal 1:1.14:1.39 ratio or is it not as important as some people make it out to be?

It is important but not as important when the rooms are too small. Then it does not matter the room ratio since the room will always sound unbalanced

8. What techniques can do you use to accomplish the desired isolation levels?

Room in a room concept. preventing flanking noise with appropriate vibrational systems which can be quite expensive. Double walls wit enough mass and proper damping systems

9. Are they successful?

Of course but they are quite expensive

10. What construction methods best suited for recording studios?

Any that follows the laws of physics and good common sense

11. Is relying on mass impractical or can it alone provide the required isolation?

No unless the double walls are too heavy indeed. Anyway you always need to deal with structural noise where different rules are applied

12. Do you utilise the decoupling technique where the studio is effectively separated from the original building?

Yes if the client can afford it. It is expensive to do so

13. If so is it the best solution in conversion projects?

It is mandatory

14. what soundproofing materials or companies do you recommend?

For gypsum walls I like to use Green Glue. For antivibration I use VIBRO but I'm suspicious since I sell both of them


15. How do you deal with background noise?

What kind of background noise are we talking about ? HVAC I use silencers, playing around with ducts etc

16. What is more desirable solution to acoustics Dead or Live?

Depends a lot, sometimes even on the requests of the client. I personally don't like to do dead spaces which are often advocated in this forum

17. Do you place as much emphasis on the control rooms acoustics as the actual recording room?

The same emphasis, different problems and rooms


18. Is it possible to have the bands record at high levels during the day and use the night and evening time for mixing quietly where studios cannot meet the isolation requirements?

Hardly... but sometimes can be done if neibbhgours are too occupied watching reality shows or not just at home haha

19. Finally are there any issues that cannot be satisfied when converting a building for use as recording studios?

yes sometimes not enough soundproofing is achieved, the building has severe structural problems, lack of space, lack of appropriate height ba bla

[MICHAELMCGARRY]

I understand some of the questions may seem a bit broad or basic for yous as you all probably have a much greater understanding on the subject and im only being researching studio design a couple of months, but if you could maybe cast your opinion on one or two that you can give a good answer it would be really appreciated, Thanks Michael

[MICHAELMCGARRY]

thanks andre thats brialliant